Lighter arrangement for gas ranges



Feb. 22, 1938. B. E. MEACHAM ET AL 2,109,399

LIGHTER ARRANGEMENT FOR GAS RANGES Filed April 14, 1956 2 Sheets$het 1 F b. 22, 1938. B. E. MEACHAM ET AL 2,10 39 LIGHTER ARRANGEMENT FOR GAS RANGES Filed April 14, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 22, 1938- LIGHTER ARRANGEMENT FOR GAS RANGES Benjamin Edward Meacham and Edward M. Meacham, Lorain, Ohio, assignors to American Stove Company, of New Jersey St. Louis, Mo., a corporation Application April 14, 1936, Serial No. 74,383

' 4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved lighter arrangement for gas ranges and more particularly to an arrangement for providing for the ignition of a plurality of burners or groups of burnerssuch as the oven burner and the cook;- ing top burners by a, plurality of pilot lights or pilot burners.

Another, among other objects of the invention, isthe provision ofa novel means for opening and holding open for a. predetermined time the valve which controls the su'pplyoi gas to that pilot light which controls the operation of the main control valve.

Another and still further objector the inof 'unburned or raw gas from any of the main burners or any of their pilot light burners is absolutely prevented. It is to be recognized that the escape of raw or unburned gases intothe kitchen or other room in which the range rmght be placed is not only undesirable but is highly dangerous and is a. condition which must be ade quately and safely guarded against.

A burner or burners or a pilot light may heth li t e rrange en or gas ran es w c s o ean w en ex ll'lglll pendable and efiicient in operation and at the or raw eases unless it is immediately relighted ol same time by reason .of its simplicity can be the gas ppl w it stopped- Probably F cheaply arid readily assembledand is consequentcause of extinguishingha burner. grade K111332118 f ili o yc eapo manufacture. is a, boil-over or a eavy or s e 2o Other specific objects, novel'features of cong of W 1* the condltmn struction and improved results of theinvention which exists. whenllqmd a 93 will eppear 1iln rnore detaiilhfromlfhe following de-. trainer 0;; the filallilge b g 0r tg i g fi 2 3 scrpion w en read in e H t- 1 th ema' er w '0 over ows e u e 1 panying' drawings. g o e rag-com tainer is very apt to smother the flame at a burner 5 In. the drawings: 1 Or' a pilot light andis further very likely 9 elther Fig, 1 is a view in front elevation of arange completely or partially dog their burner mmces' equipped with the present invention, portions It; has been found also that in many instan of, the range being broken away andshown in youn chil re either carelessly accidentally verttizcal stectionklto better illustrate the compopen a -w f fi g g i raw nen par s ma n u the as ran e a h as to escape. rom 1111 um present invention. v v nd t l-Iaving reference now tothe drawings which Fig/Zis a horizontal sectional view taken on v il us ne q i our invention m it 1 m We *'-*i* intentin if a: ,5

ca I y arrow. I I. V range,'. represen W v F[g 3 1 top view f t pflotlight burner baking oven, and C'the cooking top burner cham which services the cooking top-burners, thevalve .561 the r I A Si burner serves h which controls the flow of fuel to the oven burner h q n n hi a i g 12 22333 being shown in horizontal sectio an oven m Fig.4is adetail view in vertical section through i 9- n of whlch -$235 the cooking top burner pilot11ight,-the parts ast in into the fi 2 sociatedwith and operated by the thermostatic g2 f g fe g zz areedzsi'gnated at ,E Element. of this pilot. light. beingshown -.-in fullf gg g gg, with h usual practice f nes. v I

r a v ituated adjacent the four cornersof the cookingus Fig. 5 is .a detail view in elevation of the cook- 3' ing'top burner pilot light.. gg$,if'g g igg figgg 9 the cookmg top Fig fi is adetail view inyerticali 's'ection of the". c h is i f t 1 g Gas from a suitable supply (n 0WI1 me use. e y va ve and the thermo-couple. I bflQLIgI-mv to t and oven burner h re Hghterarreneement:iswsuch that. y condu ts whi'ch'is preferably positioned at to it is applicable to gas ranges 20f .varying"cont e b of "t range and. has a pipe portion structio'ns and is not limited in use t'oja; gas range xt d forwardly through the cooking toll of the Pa u and Decifid-lconstruotibn here burner'cham b r when terminates in a manifold inafter described, although it is b'elieved' that the" extending acrossfthe front end of the burner range construction describedand illustrated is a amberbehindjaisuitable conceali g, panel. 8.

2 The cooking top'burners are provided with mixing tubes 9 to which gas issupplied from the gas supply manifold under the control of the so positioned a manually operable valve 20. This cooking top burner cocks or valves It the handles of which are positioned exteriorly of the burner chamber panel 8. The oven burner also receives its'gas' from the manifold I and the fuel is conducted to this burner by a pipenthe portions 12 and. II

of which are concealed between the double spaced-- walls ofthe oven. It will be understood of course first pass a valve which is under'the control of the oven heat regulator D. This particular arrangement is so well'understoodoby those skilled in the art that further description of this featureis considered unnecessary.

A valve F which we have termed a safety valve, is positioned in the main fuel supply pipe or conduit 5 and provides a, positive means, when closed,

of cutting off all gas supply to any ofthe cooking top burners or the oven burner.

The pilot light or burner for servicing the burners is designated as an entirety at H and comprises aburner tip it which burns a flame i5 within a protecting sun It, which vcup in turn is concentrically arranged within a larger protecting-cup or housing. I! having a series of openings in its side walls. This pilot receives its gas from the pipe portion of the fuel "conduit through a supplemental conduit I! in which is valve 20 provides a means for properly adjusting the SlZe'Of the pilot flame i5. Attention is dirooted to the fact that the 'pilot'H receives its .gas from the supply conduitat a point back of mode of operation of a. flash tube pilot lighter is sufficiently well understood by those skilled in the art as to need noffurther detailed description.

The oven burner l is serviced or ignited by a pilot J which is positioned within the broiler chamber A at a point adjacent and slightly below the over burner. ceives its fuel through a pipe or conduit 22 which has connection as at 23 with the main fuel supply pipe 5 at a point inf-ront of the safety valve F. This pilot light would constantly receive fuel were it not for the line, of the supplemental safety valve K. By referenoe to Fig. 3 of the drawings it will be seen that the valve element 24 of this normally towards its seat and a closed position bya coil spring 25, and this valve wilibe in an open position ,only when the cooking top D 1 1-; is burning, as will be hereinafter more par- 'ticularly described. A manually operable valve presence, 1 in its fuel supply valve is urged and terminate adjacent. the cook- This pilot light burner re-- hereinafter described. that all gas reaching the oven burner I must bent into a U-shape with one. short leg of the .element secured .as at 29 tothe cup iii of the cooking top pilot light whileits other and longer leg 3|! extends downwardly outside of the small cup 18 and through an opening 3|v provided in the bottom of t e largercup' I 1.; The extreme "lower end 82 of is leg of-th'e thermostatic 'ele 'ment extends well beyondthei bottom of the larger cup for a specific The valve element 24 of the supplemental safety valve K is provided with an elongated stem 33 the outer end 34 of which extends into the interior of the large cup I! and is in alignment with and adapted to beengaged by the long leg of the bi-metallic thermostatic strip L. v i

:With the arrangement thus far described it willlbe seen that a considerable portion of the thermostatic element is closely adjacent the pilot element or purpose which will be flame I 5 and consequentlysubjected to the heat.

generated by said flame.

the leg 3d of the strip into engagement with the end 34 of the valve stem and cause the valve elethe description given of the operation of the present lighter arrangement, .some provision must be made for providing a manual means for opening the supplemental safety valve K in the event the cooking top burner pilot light has become deliberately put out or has become extinguished through accidental cause. To-accomplish the above we provide a cam M which is carried by a shaft 38 which is rotatably supported adjacent one end in a.suitable bracket 3? while its opposite end passes through and is rotatably supported in the closure panel 8 at the front of the cooking top burner. chambar. The outer end of this shaft is provided with a handle 38 which extends at right angles to the shaft and in effect constitutes a hell-crank.

v When the flame isburning the heat generated willcause the bowed portion of the stripto expand and thus-move standard or The cam M at the inner and opposite end of the shaft has a cam face 39' which upon rotation 01 3| pf the thermostatic element L and move that leg towards and into engagement withthe end 34 of the valve stem 33. The cam is so designed as to cause sufllcient movement of the, valve element 26 as to open this valve and permit the flow of fuel through the pipe 22 to the oven burnor 'pilot light J. p

"The main safety valve F is a-thermostatically operated valve which isoperated by the heat generated by the flame of the oven burner pilot J; The valve which we propose to use is one which can be bought on the open, market and 26 positioned in the fuel line to the oven burner pilot at a' point intermediate the pilotand the supplemental safety valve K provides a means for adjusting the size of the flame 21 burned at this pilot. v

The position of the valve element 24 of the supplemental safety. valve K is dependent upon position by suitableresilient means and thereand determined by the thermostatic element L. r The thermostatic element L is a iii-metallic st p is also within the'houslng 'an electro -ma its particular construction forms no .part' of the present invention and-it will therefore .be described only in general-terms. -N designates a theshaft by the bell crank-like handle is caused to engage the depending end 32 of the long leg thermo element positioned wlthin'theheat zone of the flame '2l Otth ovenpilot lightJ while i It designates a tube interconnecting this ele-' ment with the housing portion ll of the safety valve. 'Ihere'is within the safety valve housin a valve which isnormaliyurged towards a closed at which when energized has suflicient stre'ngt 30 As will hereinafter appear from a reading of hold said valve in an open position against the tension ofs'aid resilient means after the valve has been manually'opened. In other words, the electro-magnet is not sufficiently strong to open the valve against the tension but will hold the valve open after it has once been opened manually. Electric wires run from this electro-magnet through the tubing 40 and have connection with the thermo element N. This element might be called a thermo-couple and has the attribute of generating current when subjected to heat. This thermo element or thermo-couple when subjected to heat will generate a current very quickly and the wires within the tube 40 conduct this current to the electro-magnet carried within the housing of the safety valve. Means for initially manually opening the valve element within the safety valve is provided in the form of a rod which extends from the valve through the cooking top burner chamber and the panel 8 at the front thereof and'terminates in a handle 43 which is conveniently positioned at the front of the range adjacent to the cooking top burner valves Ill and the operating handle 38 of the cam.

Means are provided whereby the valve element in the safety valve F, will remain open only so long as it is manually held in an open position through its operating rod 42. The instant the handle of this rod is released the rod will no longer function to hold the valve element in an open position.

Attention is also directed to the fact that when the cam M is in a non-operative position with respect to the thermo element L that its bell crank-like handle 38 is in a vertical position whereas this handle, see Fig. l of the drawings, is in a horizontal position when the cam has been moved into operative engagement with the thermo element.

Assuming that neither of the pilot lights H or J are burning, the mechanism or range is placed in condition for automatic operation in the following manner.

The handle 38 is swung into a horizontal position, thereby swinging the cam into frictional engagement with the thermo element L and thus manually opening the supplemental safety valve K. It will be obvious that the resiliently urged valve together with the normal resiliency in the thermo element L will cause the cam to remain in the position into which it has been swung. With the valve K open the oven pilot light J is manually ignited. When this pilot light has been burning for about half a minute the stove operator manually opens the valve in the primary safety valve F. This valve will now remain held in an open position by the energized electromagnet. The operator releases the handle 43 allowing it to return to its normal position. With the main safety valve open gas is now flowing to the cooking top burner pilot light H and this the operator now manually ignites. Within a short period of time the heat generated at this pilot will cause expansion of the thermo element L so that it will move out of engagement with the cam M. The weight of the handle 38 of the cam operating shaft 36 will cause the handle. to swing back into a vertical position and move the cam M into nonoperative relationship with re spect to the thermo element L.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the cam remained in operative relationship with the thermo element L a predetermined time, namely,

, a time until suflicient heat was generated at the cooking top burner pilot light to take over automatic control of the supplemental safety valve K through its connection therewith through the bimetallic thermo element L.

With both pilot lights burning the range becomes fully automatic. If any valve Ill to a cooking top burner is opened that burner becomes ignited by the cooking top burner pilot light through its respective flash tube. If the valve controlling the supply of fuel to the oven burner is opened that burner becomes immediately ignited by the oven burner pilot light J. If the pilot light J becomes extinguished the primary safety valve F shuts off fuel delivery to the cooking top burners, the oven burner and the cooking top burner pilot light. cooking top burner pilot light becomes extinguished through the closing of the main safety valve F the thermo element L cools and the sec ondary valve K closes and stops delivery of gas to the oven pilot light. Thus it will be seen that no raw gas can escape from any of'the main burners or any of the pilot light burners if the oven pilot light J becomes extinguished even though the manual valves controlling the supply of gas to the cooking top burners and the ovenburner may be fully open,

Considering now the possibility of the cooking .top burner pilot light becoming extinguished rather than the oven burner pilot light going out, it will be seen that in this event the thermo element L cools and the supplemental safety valve K closes fuel delivery to the oven pilot light J. The oven pilot light J of course then goes out and causes, as previously described, the main safety valve F to close and stop fuel delivery to the cooking top burners, the oven burner and the cooking top burner pilot light.

From the foregoing it will be seen that as long as both pilot lights are burning automatic means is provided for igniting all the main burners and that upon either one of the pilot lights becoming extinguished the arrangement operates automatically to positively prevent the escape of raw or unburned gases from any main burner or any pilot light burner of the range.

In the foregoingdescription we have described the primary automatic valve F as being of the type utilizing an electro-magnet which is set into operation by a thermo element or thermo-couple, but it is to be understood that the safety valve need not necessarily be of this specific type. Any thermostatically operated safety valve which requires an original manual setting in the open position could be utilized in our improved lighter arrangement with equal advantage. Mechanical means' rather than magnetic means for holding the valve in an open'position so long as the thermo element is heated could be easily and readily substituted for the particular specific safety valve construction hereinbefore described.

So far as we know prior devices of this character which are known and in use or in respect to which patents have issued do not provide for definitely and absolutely cutting off the delivery of fuel to all theburners, including the pilot light burners, in the event of one of the pilot light burners becoming extinguished as we do,

and our lighter arrangement for this reason is considered to be a definite improvement.

In our device the oven pilot burner is positioned Within the oven and very closely adjacent the oven burner, with the result that an uneven or unbalanced heat does not occur in the oven and with the further result that a positive and practi- Immediately the cally instantaneous ignition of the oven burner is obtained from the pilot light.

We claim:

1. In combination with a stove, a plurality of cooking top burners, an oven burner, a cooking top pilot burner provided with means to ignite fuel flowing from any one of the cooking top burners, a fuel supply pipeleading to all of said burners including said pilot light burner, means including an oven pilot light burner positioned to ignite fuel flowing from the oven burner, a second fuel supply pipe leading to said pilot light burner, thermostatic valve means in the first mentioned fuel supply pipe and responsive to the heat of said oven pilot light burner, said valve means controlling the flow of fuel to said cooking top and oven burners and said cooking top pilot light burner and being operable to permit fuel flow only as long as said oven pilot light burner is burning and to close all said fuel flow upon failure of said oven pilot ,light burner, thermostatic valve means in the second fuel supply pipe leading to said oven burner pilot light and responsive to the heat of the cooking top burner pilot light and operable to permit fuel flow to the oven burner pilot light only when said cooka ing top burner pilot light is burning, whereby the fuel supply to said cooking top burners, the oven burner, and both of said pilot lights will be cut off upon extinguishment of either of said pilots.

2. In combination with a stove having a plurality of cooking top burners and an oven burner, ignition means including a cooking top pilot light burner for igniting the fuel flowing from any of the cooking top burners, a fuel supply pipe leading to all of said burners including the t cooking top pilot light burner, an oven burner pilot light, a second and independent fuel supply pipe leading to, said oven burner pilot light, a valve in the first named fuel supply pipe, manually operable means to open said valve, thermostatically operated means operable by the heat generated by the oven burner pilot light for holding said valve openafter the same has been manually moved to that position, a normally closed valve in the independent fuel supply pipe leading to the oven burner pilot light, thermostatic means operable by the heat generated by the cooking top burner pilot light for holding said valve in an open position, manual means for opening, said valve when said cooking top burner pilot light is extinguished, said manual means being automatically moved out of operative engagement with said valve when said cooking top burner pilot light has heated said thermostatically operated means sufliciently to cause said thermostatically operated means to hold said valve open and the parts operating whereby the fuel delivery to all of said burners including. both of said pilot light burnersis cut ofi upon the extinguishment of either of said pilots.

3. In a gas range having a plurality of cooking top burners and an oven burner located in a compartment therefor, a pilot light for the cooking top burners, a pilotlight located in the said even burner compartment and adjacent the said oven burner, a main gas manifold having com munications with the said cooking top burners and with the -said pilot light therefor, a valve for the said manifold and located in advance of the communications with the top burners and the pilot light therefor, a communication with the said manifold in advance of the said valve, the opposite end of the communication furnishing fuelfor the said oven burner pilot, a thermostatic control for the valve in the manifold controlled by the oven burner pilot, and a thermostatic controlled valve in the communication between the oven bumer pilot and said manifold.

4. A gas range comprising cooking top burners, an oven provided with an oven burner, a pilot light for the cooking top burners and a pilot light for the oven burner, a main gas manifold having connections with the cooking top burners and the said pilot light therefor, an independent fuel communication from the main manifold to the pilot light for the oven burner, a valve located in the main fuel manifold between the point of connection of the independent fuel communication and the communications with the cooking top burners and the pilot therefor,.a thermostat operating the valve in the main manifold, a thermostatically operated connection between last said valve and the oven burner pilot, and a thermostatic valve located in the independent communication the last mentioned thermostat operated by the cooking top burner.

BENJAMIN EDWARD MEACHAM. EDWARD M. MEACHAM. 

